Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Current Table
The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the safety of playoff places.
| Rank | Side | P | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midtjylland | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Freiburg | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Ferencvaros | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | FC Porto | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Celtic | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 25 | Nottm Forest | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | Rangers | 4 | -7 | 0 |
| 33 | Malmo FF | 4 | -5 | 1 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The English side made hard work of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with additional time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with the record-breaking signing Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a largely forgettable match to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European football in just three years."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
